Counseling

For students:
Students may sign up to see their counselor on the clipboard at the Counseling Front Desk. Students can also request to see their counselor using the QR Codes located outside of the Counseling Office.

If a student is in distress and has an immediate need to speak with a counselor, he/she should convey this information to the secretary and ask to wait. Students should not visit the Counseling Center without a pass and will not be given a pass if they come without one. Counselors will call the student from class or will email the student in StudentVUE to schedule a meeting. 

For parents or guardians:
Parents or guardians who wish to speak with any of the Counselors are encouraged to contact the Counseling Department Front Desk by phone at (301) 392-5509 or by calling Westlake High School at (301) 645- 8857. If you wish to meet with the Counselor, please schedule an appointment using the phone numbers listed or by contacting your Counselor by email.

New Student Registration:

• Registrations are by appointment only. One hour time slots are offered from 8am to 1pm daily and will be scheduled with your students grade level counselor to the best of our ability. To make an appointment please call the Counseling Department and speak with the Secretary.

How to register your student:
Student Registration can be an easy process. At least one legal parent or guardian is required to be present at registration unless other arrangements have been made with the approval of the Counselor. Students should also attend in order to ask and respond to questions regarding their academic history and future plans. Registration will take approximately one hour, which includes completing forms and meeting with a Counselor.

Parents wishing to register their student at Westlake must provide the following documents. Missing information will delay registration:

Transcript, final report card or current transfer grades (if applicable).
Evidence of complete primary immunizations.
Copy of the child's birth certificate.
Two (2) proofs of domicile in the Westlake school zone in the biological parents name (see Proof of Domicile Form).
Any additional documentation such as military power of attorney or court documents.
Copy or IEP or 504 (if applicable).
Other helpful documents: H.S.A. or PARCC scores

Any changes in a student or parent name (marriage or divorce) must be accompanied by official name change documentation. Acceptable proofs of name change include marriage certificate (not license), new social security card or passport. A divorce decree may also be acceptable in some cases. Please call our office if you have questions. If you wish to use proofs of domicile in a Step-Parents name, a copy of the marriage certificate (not license) is required.

Current Student Transcript Information and Form

Former Student Transcript Requests:

Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) maintains permanent student records and has changed the transcript request process. CCPS now provides online transcript requests for former students and education verification through Scriborder:https://charlesmd.scriborder.com/
As of Monday, July 27, 2020, CCPS is no longer accepting transcript requests in person, by phone, email or fax.

transcript-request

Students under age 18 no longer need to request a work permit from schools in order to obtain a job. Click the link below to apply online.

Online Work Permit Application
 

How to meet with your students teachers:
Parents are asked to contact teachers personally via phone or email before arranging conferences with Counselors.
If personal contact does not resolve your concerns, contact the Counselor to arrange a parent/teacher conferences.
Morning conferences are held from 7:10 to 7:25 with ONE or TWO teachers.
Afternoon conferences are held from 2:20 to 2:50pm. We try to limit PTC to areas of need only, rather than with all teachers. We also limit one conference per quarter, per student.
Once teachers have presented their classes, they will be dismissed to their afterschool activities.

Information for Juniors:
Three things your child could be doing now to alleviate stress next year.
Prior to the spring of your junior year, we will administer both the Mock ACT and the Mock SAT to all juniors and Ms. Wilhelm, the ACT/SAT Coordinator, will meet with each junior individually. This meeting will determine the student's need for college admission testing based on the test results and their post-secondary plan and which test might be best suited for the student. Juniors may then pick up an ACT or SAT registration packet from Ms. Wilhelm. Her office is located in the Counseling Department. If you have met the course requirements for a 4-year college, you should plan on taking either the ACT and/or the SAT once in the spring of the junior as recommended by both the College Board and the ACT Educational Services. If necessary, a student may repeat either test once or twice as a senior. It is important to participate in the ACT or SAT Prep programs offered at Westlake before with the May/June tests or the November/December tests. See Ms. Wilhelm for more information. The College of Southern Maryland does NOT require either test.

Begin (or continue) to research colleges. Students generally apply to between 3 to 5 colleges and with the application deadlines often hitting in December (U Md. College Park is Nov. 1) we recommend that counselor pages and transcript requests be submitted to the guidance office early in November. During peak times it can take as much as two weeks for the guidance office to process a transcript request that includes a counselor page. If your student walks in the building the first day of school knowing which schools he is applying to, he can work on completing the applications in September (Fair Day is good for that) and have everything in to guidance early.
Students will need a detailed resume and completed student questionnaire in order to receive a letter of recommendation from the Counselor. If a letter of recommendation is not requested, that portion of the counselor's page will be left blank. Write the resume now and have it ready for the fall.

Students and parents are welcome to make an appointment now to discuss senior year schedules, testing, and college searches.
Senior Questionnaire

Test dates and additional services:
Detailed information about test dates, fee waivers and services for students with disabilities are available on both the ACT and the SAT web-sites listed below:
ACT information
SAT information

Please see the link to the most update School Profile for Westlake High School

SchoolProfile2021SchoolYear.pdf